A motor vehicle transmission typically couples rotatable transmission input and output members using interconnected gear elements and clutches to thereby establish a desired transmission output speed ratio. Some of the clutches may be configured as fluid-actuated plate clutches having a series of spaced friction plates. A hydraulic piston is typically actuated to compress the friction plates together and thereby transfer torque across the engaged clutch, or to stop rotation of a side of the clutch and any interconnected gear elements or nodes. Plate clutches are typically controlled with a variable rate of slip, such that the state of the plate clutch can range from fully-applied to fully-released and anywhere in between.
In some transmissions, a binary clutch assembly, such as a selectable one-way clutch (SOWC) portion and freewheeling element, is used alone or in conjunction with a plate clutch to establish one or more gear states. Such devices may be applied in first gear to launch the vehicle or during a rolling garage shift into reverse. Unlike conventional friction plate clutches, a binary clutch assembly, as the name indicates, has just two possible clutch states: a fully-applied state and a fully-released state, as determined by the commanded state of the SOWC portion. When the SOWC portion is released, the binary clutch assembly is released, and thus freewheels in one rotational direction. The freewheeling element prevents rotation in the other rotational direction. Therefore, one side of the binary clutch assembly may effectively slip with respect to the other side. When the SOWC portion is applied, however, the binary clutch assembly is effectively locked in both rotational directions.